Democrats search for villains on health care

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated Monday that she would like a health care reform bill passed 'before August recess.'
John Shinkle

During a Monday afternoon news conference, Pelosi seemed to leave the door open for any possibility.

“I have said that I wanted a bill to pass before the August recess,” the speaker told reporters. “But I’ve also said we need time not only to get the bill written but to have plenty of time to [read it], and I’ve also said that we need to see the direction that the Senate is going, so we can do as much as possible in advance of September.”

Democrats in the House have been waiting weeks for the Senate Finance Committee to show some signs of progress, and that frustration is also starting to boil over.

Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who chairs the Democrats’ campaign arm in the House, questioned the “political will” of his Senate counterparts to complete a deal.

“What concerns me about what’s happened in the Senate Finance Committee is that they’ve had a whole lot of time to work these things out and just don’t seem to be able to break the impasse,” Van Hollen said in an interview on Bill Press’s national radio show.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce only fed that frustration by sending a letter to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the panel’s top Republican, thanking the two for their work on a bipartisan compromise and asking them to complete it by the August recess.

“The Chamber also believes that it is important for the committee to act promptly, preferably before the August recess, to approve a bipartisan bill consistent with these principles, as it is now apparent that we will be forced to oppose the legislation being considered by the House. The business community vitally needs better policy alternatives to be proposed by Congress,” the Chamber’s chief lobbyist, Bruce Josten, wrote.

A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators resumed their discussions late Monday afternoon. Their staffs worked through the weekend, meeting Sunday with White House budget director Peter Orszag and health reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle.

The Senate Finance Committee moved closer to eliminating two provisions favored by many Democrats: a requirement on employers to provide insurance or pay a government penalty, and a public insurance option, a senator and health-care insiders said Monday.

If that's the shape of the final Senate Finance bill, Baucus is likely to come under even greater pressure from fellow Democrats who accuse him of abandoning key Democratic priorities for reform to win Republican votes. But Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) stressed to reporters Monday that no final deal had been reached.

Senate aides also appeared to be revisiting the idea of taxing certain cosmetic surgeries as a way to fund the $1 trillion overhaul. Treasury Department economic adviser Gene Sperling earlier this month proposed the excise tax — sometimes referred to as a “Botox tax” — on elective plastic surgeries as part of an administration effort to offer new options for closing the funding gap, according to a committee aide familiar with the talks.

But the discussion had yet to reach the member level as of Monday. It was described by one aide as one idea on a list of options.

Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Snowe said they have not discussed it.

“I never heard one word about that in any of these deliberations,” Conrad said.

Back in the House, committee staff who wrote the bill walked rank-and-file Democrats through the legislation in detail during a sparsely attended five-hour briefing in the Capitol basement Monday.

Readers' Comments (1280)

Lol Botox Tax from Speaker Pelosi.... even I can appreciate the irony of this.

But seriously, the health system in this country needs to be reformed before all our GDP is spent proping up the Insurance Industry and big Pharma. Work to live and live to work is not a sustainable way to run a country. A few key elements must be in any health reform:

1) It must be inclusive and provide coverage for all Americans. This is not because we are a bunch of care bears, although the moral obligation is a good driver, but also because uninsured getting treated is a stealth cost built into the system and needs to be explicitly addressed now.

2) It must drive costs down. Anyone with a brain can see that with healthcare costs out running GDP growth by quite a large margin we are in an untenable position

3) People must be able to keep their existing health coverage if they so choose. Good news here is that CBO has shown the Republican screeching about goverment pushing out private insurance is bull and the two can co-exist.

The rest, well let them argue it out until they are blue in the face. Just get it done.

Dems need to just blame Obama. It's clear Obama can't explain HealthCare to America, can't sell it, and possibly is uninformed on what the reality is of the healthcare package. Enter the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office,,, those pesky financial. non-partisan ,,,,,watchdogs. The CBO says there will be no savings with the DEMs HealthCare plan, no savings either in the future, and the plan will add more $$ to the deficit. Exact opposite of what Obama said at his presser.

Again, either Obama is not informed on the expense of HealthCare by Gov.,,or his handlers are giving his TOTUS complete fabricated info to say at pressers. What ever the case, Obama's approval ratings are sinking, he's looking like a snake oil salesman, and everyone wants to vote out Congress.

With incompetence so large in Government, a BIG largesse Government that seems to just Spend and NOT deliver results, the DEMs are risking spending a shrinking taxpayer dollar and bankrupting the USA if healthCare is passed. Dems have yet to prove that any Bill and spending of Trillions has improved job creation, the economy, or is efficiently run. It's just been spending, borrowing and waste.

That's beautiful Nancy. Damn thos einsurance companies for making profits that are rightfully the government's money to play with. Don't return it to the common folk, giove it to us in the government so we can use it. Beautiful representation of your constituents Nancy.

And this beast ain't going to get through congress for one reason; its a horrific abuse and overreach of power. By the way, old Teddy Kennedy would be dead by now if your plan was enacted, or maybe he'd still be getting death counselling and a Tylenol. How's it feel to live the dream now Ted?

The Public Option is the only avenue availiable for the average person to get lower health insurance costs. The Insurance companies have a monopoly over prices and who will and will not get coverage and what procedures they will receive. The Insurance companies choose your doctors and your type of cure.

Every company I ever worked for, always are on the lookout for cheaper health plans for the employees. I've worked for a company that changed plans several times within a 2yr period. If this bill passes as it is written now, a lot of employers would hop on board and then everyone will be under the government program. Whether directly or indirectly thru your employer. Just another thing Obama is trying to mislead Americans on. Do you really want to realize this after the fact?

I think the Blue Dogs have it right. Vote for your country rather than with your party. Hopefully the middle of the road is where our country is headed. Couldn't stand the conservatives and now I can't stand the liberals. Liberals proved during the primary that they were willing to eat their own in order to get what they wanted. Obama was the weakest candidate. Well the liberals got their "perceived" majority in 2006 and 2008, now the smart thing for them to do would be to learn how to work with them instead of trying to strongarm them.

health Care in the United States is already Rationed. It is rationed by the Insurance Companies.

Healthcare does need reform badly. Just not how it is written right now. Don't rush it thru without constructive feedback from the American people. Politicians won't be affected by this, but the American people will be. Let's do it, but do it smartly not stupidly.

Every company I ever worked for, always are on the lookout for cheaper health plans for the employees. I've worked for a company that changed plans several times within a 2yr period. If this bill passes as it is written now, a lot of employers would hop on board and then everyone will be under the government program. Whether directly or indirectly thru your employer. Just another thing Obama is trying to mislead Americans on. Do you really want to realize this after the fact?

Private insurance will survive they just will not be able to charge such large premiums.

Good article ... although the headline oversimplifies the subject. Which is, on some level, what headlines do. But good article nonetheless.

It seems the Dems are still at least one, and perhaps two election cycles away from being empowered enough to produce real change and reform in our government. They have far too much of their own baggage - and maybe still not enough pressure from the electorate. With any luck at all, the pendulum will continue to sweep in their direction long enough to produce a course correction for America, and we can start sailing toward a sunnier horizon.

Then complacency, arrogance and foolishness will once again befall their ranks, the Republicans will re-brand themselves and the electorate will again commence to culling the herd on the Dems side of the aisle.

We can only hope that by that time, the cycle of rinse and repeat will start to become second nature to the voting public, and we will stop taking our government for granted and finally learn that democracy requires eternal vigilance. Any seat in congress is a very special club to be in, and it's far too easy to forget who you work for. And unfortunately, it seems that once a politician forgets, their memory can never be returned. Best to flush out as many Republicans as we possibly can - two more cycles ought to do it - before we start to flush out what is left of the old guard Democrats and try to bring some balance back to the system.

Then perhaps, within a decade, we might start to see the fruits of these changes and worry a little less about the future of our country and the future of the world.

Employees have no chice now. The private insurance companies dictate the doctors you will see and the type of treatment they will pay for right now. Hence, the type of treatment you are going to get.

Actually, my current employer offers 3 different plans to chose from. The cheapest is Kaiser, then we have Aetna or the UC system. I'm satisfied with what my employer has to offer now. I'm concerned with my employer cancelling the 3 options we have now and hop on the gov plan if they want to save money. Which every company is striving for these days, to save on expenses.